It is broadly old to construct racks for holding various articles in spaced relationships to improve a sterilizing operation. But most racks of this nature are difficult to load, and especially to unload after a heating sterilizing operation. They are also usually large and fragile, making their shipping and storage both expensive and bothersome. It is accordingly the principle object of the present invention to design a canning-lid-sterilizing rack that (1) is easy to load and unload (2) is capable of being very compactly packaged in knocked-down form for economical and damage-proof shipping, and (3) which is very easily and securely snapped-together in assemblage.